When is M&T Bank Stadium most frenzied?
It's when the defense is crushing opponents (particularly the Steelers) on the field.
The Ravens built their reputation on defense, much in thanks to the historically-great 2000 Super Bowl team. That's carried on throughout the years, and it's not changing any time soon.
On Wednesday night, Owner Steve Bisciotti was asked by a PSL holder how the team can get fans at M&T Bank Stadium louder and keep them engaged throughout the game.
"I'll be honest with you, and it's kind of a convoluted way," Bisciotti said. "Keeping a great defense, I think, keeps the energy level up. We've had 20 years of that now, and I think it makes a huge difference."
A good defense equals crowd noise. Since fans are encouraged to stay quiet when their team's offense is on the field, allowing for better communication, it's a team's defense that can truly create a home-field advantage.
There are many factors that go into this stat, but the Ravens have the NFL's second-best home mark since 2008. Under Head Coach John Harbaugh, Baltimore is 45-11 (.804 winning percentage) at home. That trails only the Patriots (.875 winning percentage).
The Ravens have allowed the NFL's fewest points per game (15.3) at home since 2008. They've allowed the third-fewest yards (293.4) and outscored their opponents 1,432-855.
During that time, the Ravens have been, on average, the eighth best defense in the league.
"When you can't trust your defense to wreak havoc, then I think your fans start to quiet down," Bisciotti said. "And if they start to quiet down, it makes it easier for the opposing offense to score, makes it tougher for our defense and then makes it tougher for our fans to stay motivated.
"I know that I'm as engaged when we get on defense because I'm looking to wreak havoc on their offense. I think the fans buy that. I think they're intellectually quiet enough to let us run our offense and they know when to pump up the noise."
The Ravens have long invested in their defense more than their offense, both in salary-cap space and in the draft. Baltimore has used its first three draft picks on the defensive side of the ball the past two years. It hasn't selected an offensive player first since 2009 (Michael Oher).
"Maybe we've got to draft defense first, second and third round again and keep a top-10 defense," Bisciotti said. "That's always very important for me.
"I do not ever want to have a team that has to score 30 points to win. I think that if you have a top-10 defense, you can keep the advantage and make that home field as good as you can get it."
